Let's compare a Daoist country to the U.S.A. & China

Lots and lots of people know about Daoism and think it has a lot of cool ideas. But what would it actually look like to live in a Daoist country compared to the United States, or even modern China? Let's do a comparison!

	Daoist Country	U.S.A.	China
Where most people live	Small villages	Cities	Mega-cities
Valued gender	Feminine	Masculine	Masculine
Government type	Local sage-leaders	Federalist democracy	Centralized party-rule
Technology	Only local, basic technology (farming and construction)	Advanced--society completely dependent upon technological system	Advanced--society completely dependent upon technological system
Work	Basic jobs for survival	Very specialized jobs within a consumer-driven economic system	Very specialized jobs within a consumer-driven economic system
Education	Learn from hands-on experience, knowledge is basic and limited to local needs	Trained to be productive within the global economic system; Education must be continuous to stay relevant	Trained to be productive within the global economic system; Education must be continuous to stay relevant
Military	Minimal, not displayed	Superpower capable of destroying entire countries, constantly displays military might	Superpower capable of destroying entire countries, constantly displays military might
Virtues	Kindness, moderation, not putting oneself first	Productivity, consumption, individualism	Productivity, consumption, obedience
Relationship with nature	Live within nature; humans aren't more significant than other beings	Dominate nature; humans are above all	Dominate nature; humans are above all
Relationship with others	Natural harmony, spontaneous	Transactional, legalistic, manners	Transactional, legalistic, manners

After looking at this, one thing is obvious, neither the U.S.A. nor China is very Daoist at all. They are really both on the other end of the spectrum of Daoism. In fact, we can see that the U.S.A. and China are in more ways than not, the same as each other. They are both urban, consumer-driven cultures that are obsessed with military power. Productivity is a key virtue in both countries as they vie for superiority.

When we talk about trying to be Daoist within these countries, we can quickly see that the society isn't structured in a way to be truly Daoist. We can try to be Daoist, but living within a non-Daoist country makes it very hard. It takes a lot of practice and awareness to maintain one's Daoist integrity if living in such a place.

Laozi saw over 2400 years ago that society and character would decline as people became more "civilized" and technologically "advanced." We can see the effects of living in a non-Daoist country. People are alienated from each other. There is distrust. The ecosystems are suffering immensely. The global climate is becoming erratic and unstable. People are superficial and contrived. The government is meddling and cares not for the people. Technology is making people full of hate and judgment. It is also making people out of touch with nature and how to live close with nature. It's very difficult for us to see how far gone our non-Daoist civilizations are because many of us believe that ours is the most progressive, superior civilization to have existed. I doubt Laozi would agree at all.